Early in his career Carl Roskott wrote atonal compositions. He became increasingly frustrated with the expectations for modern music, though. He ultimately abandoned atonality, and in his later career wrote music that, while it incorporates some 20th Century techniques, is first-rate, melodic music that is readily accessible to all. On this release, his Concerto for Violin Solo and Orchestra and his Sonata for Violin and Piano are presented by violinist Akemi Takayama, pianist Silvan Negrutiu, and the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. Akemi Takayama appears internationally as a soloist and chamber music collaborator. She was a violinist in the retired Audubon Quartet, of which she was a member for fourteen years. She serves as associate professor at the Shenandoah University Conservatory of Music and concertmaster of both the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Williamsburg Symphonia in Virginia.
